The Drago Doctrine was announced in 1902 by Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs

Luis María Drago Luis María Drago ( - ) was an Argentine politician. Born into a distinguished Argentine family in Buenos Aires, Drago began his career as a newspaper editor. Later, he served as a minister of foreign affairs (1902). At that time, when the UK, ...

in a diplomatic note to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Perceiving a conflict between the

Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It held that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile act ...

and the influence of European imperial powers, and raising attention to the principle of sovereign equality that the United States had long supported, it set forth the policy that no foreign power, including the United States, could use force against a nation in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

to collect

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...

. In 1904, the Roosevelt Corollary was issued by the United States in response to the Drago Doctrine and asserted the right of the United States to intervene in Latin America in the interests of American business and Latin American independence from European powers. A modified version, known as the Porter Convention after

Horace Porter Horace Porter (April 15, 1837May 29, 1921) was an American soldier and diplomat who served as a lieutenant colonel, ordnance officer and staff officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, personal secretary to General and President Ul ...

, was adopted at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

in 1907 and added that arbitration and litigation should always be used first.

History

It grew from the ideas expressed by Carlos Calvo in ''Derecho internacional teórico y práctico de Europa y América'', commonly known as the Calvo Doctrine. The Calvo Doctrine proposed to prohibit diplomatic intervention before local resources were exhausted. The Drago Doctrine itself was a response to the actions of Britain, Germany, and Italy, which, in 1902, had blockaded Venezuela in response to Venezuelan government's refusal to pay its massive foreign debt that had been acquired under previous administrations before President

Cipriano Castro José Cipriano Castro Ruiz (12 October 1858 – 4 December 1924) was a high-ranking member of the Venezuelan military, politician and the president of Venezuela from 1899 to 1908. He was the first man from the Andes to rule the country, and was ...

took power. Secretary of State

John Hay John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838July 1, 1905) was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln, Hay's highest office was U ...

was taken aback by the reference to the

and delayed six weeks before responding by quoting

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

's 1901 annual message to Congress: "We do not guarantee any state against punishment if it misconducts itself." Roosevelt himself, although he would lavish praise on Drago's doctrine in later years, had earlier written in his capacity as Vice President to the German diplomat Hermann Speck von Sternburg that "if any South American State misbehaves towards any European country, let the European country spank it." The Drago Doctrine was used by

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

as a rationale for its vote in support of Argentina at the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 Apri ...

meeting on the Argentine debt crisis that involved

NML Capital Paul Elliott Singer (born August 22, 1944) is an American hedge fund manager, activist investor, philanthropist, and the founder, president and co-CEO of Elliott Management. As of October 2021, his net worth is estimated at US$4.3 billion. ' ...

References

Foreign policy doctrines 1902 in law Political history of Argentina History of Argentina (1880–1916) 1902 in international relations Politics of Venezuela 1902 in Venezuela 1902 in South America Government debt Monroe Doctrine {{Argentina-hist-stub

History

See also

References